MODERATING THE INFLUENCE OF OWNERSHIP ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ETHICAL CLIMATE AND THE UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR OF ENTERPRISES

Abstract

In most capitalist countries, business ethics is considered the precondition for long term advancement, growth, development and the maintenance of the high profitability of the organization, which is not the case with post-communist countries. Ethically oriented organizations are considered attractive for investors, employees, managers and other interested stakeholders. Unfortunately, in Serbia, a post-communist country, business ethics is considered to be of second rate significance in most cases. More precisely, organizations insist on legal business based on the code of ethics, but also include all other kinds of improvisation. The main goal of this paper is to show the moderating influence of ownership on the relationship between the ethical climate and unethical behavior in Serbia. The research encompasses 924 respondents from four domestic enterprises and foreign owned enterprises. The results of this research show that the ownership of the enterprise influences the relationship between the ethical climate and unethical behavior. We conclude that foreign owned enterprises pay more attention to the ethical behavior and create better ethical climate for the organizations. The main implication of this research is that one of the ways for better business performance of organizations in Serbia, especially if they want to enter foreign markets, is to accept moral values and the ethical behavior which exists in market economies.